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Multiple-Meaning Words

A multiple-meaning word is spelled and said the same way but means different things: a bat flies at night, and you hit a ball with a bat. Context is the only clue, which is why these words are such good reading practice.

Here are 116 multiple-meaning words from past ClueBy puzzles, each with a real example sentence for every meaning. Use them as a reference, or make a printable worksheet below.

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Students read each sentence and write the missing word. Every word appears in several sentences, each time with a different meaning.

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Word bank
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Multiple-Meaning Words

Name: ____________________Date: __________

Write the missing word from the word bank in each sentence. Each word is used more than once, with a different meaning each time.

Word bank: game · ground · bowl · bay · cold · bark · lean · trunk

  1. My mare is ________________ in color.
  2. The pointer is employed to find upland ________________.
  3. I had a bad ________________ and was in bed for a week.
  4. The sailing ship dropped anchor in the ________________.
  5. Our dog starts to ________________ whenever the doorbell rings.
  6. Place the flour, butter and salt into a large clean ________________.
  7. Roulette is a ________________ of chance.
  8. He is as ________________ as a wolf.
  9. There's no middle ________________.
  10. Add some ________________ pepper to it.
  11. The sergeant loved to ________________ orders at us.
  12. The water is too ________________.
  13. The ________________ was covered with snow, as far as the eye could see.
  14. I've got the luggage in my ________________.
  15. Don't ________________ against the wall. It's just been painted.
  16. Vegetables slowly ________________ towards the light.
  17. Millions watch the Super ________________ every February.
  18. That was a fun ________________.
  19. The tree's ________________ was scarred by lightning strikes.
  20. It's your turn to ________________ the ball down the lane.
  21. Close the lid of the trash can to keep odors and pests at ________________.
  22. Birch trees have smooth white ________________.
  23. The elephant has a huge ________________.
  24. Its rival in the ________________ War, the Soviet Union, exploited this at the time.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com

Answer key

  1. bay — a horse colour
  2. game — wild animals
  3. cold — an illness
  4. bay — a part of the sea
  5. bark — a dog's sound
  6. bowl — a dish
  7. game — a kind of play
  8. lean — thin
  9. ground — a position
  10. ground — crushed
  11. bark — to shout
  12. cold — not warm
  13. ground — the earth
  14. trunk — of a car
  15. lean — to rest against
  16. lean — to bend
  17. bowl — a football final
  18. game — a match
  19. trunk — of a tree
  20. bowl — to roll
  21. bay — to keep at bay
  22. bark — of a tree
  23. trunk — of an elephant
  24. cold — the Cold War

Multiple-meaning words list

Tick up to 10 words to build a worksheet with just those words.

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Frequently asked questions

What are multiple-meaning words?

Words with the same spelling and pronunciation but more than one meaning, like bark (of a dog or of a tree) or bank (for money or of a river). You can only tell which meaning is meant from the rest of the sentence.

Are multiple-meaning words the same as homonyms?

Mostly, yes. Teachers often use "multiple-meaning words" and "homonyms" for the same idea. Homophones are different: they sound alike but are spelled differently, like flour and flower.

Are the worksheets free?

Yes. Make and print as many as you like for home or classroom use. Each sheet has its own link, so you can print the same one again.

Where do the words come from?

From past ClueBy puzzles, a daily game where you sort twelve sentences by their missing word. A new puzzle every day adds four more words to this list.

Sentences from ClueBy, Tatoeba (CC BY 2.0 FR) and Common Voice (CC0). clueby.com